So what exactly is Life Led Homeschooling?

That’s a good question. Life Led Homeschooling is a term I sort of made up to describe what it is we actually do here in our homeschool after thirteen years. I am inspired by a lot of things, but I have one end in mind: to train them up in the way they should go.

What I end up with is something that is two parts Principle Approach, one part Charlotte Mason and four parts whatever I come up with. Some may look at that and think, “Ah, eclectic!” And yeah. You could call it that. I have at times. But that does not really describe my fundamental desire to connect learning to life. Specifically, I am looking for our lessons to accomplish three things:

Expand the mind.

Improve character.

Lead us closer to Christ.

I want our studies to go from the head to the heart and be exrpessed through our actions toward one another and our world.

In the ideal, I try to teach as Jesus did, drawing from the experiences of this world to make spiritual connections in my children. I teach, “here a little, there a little, precept upon precept (Isaiah 28:10).” In each lesson, I try to give them one Big Idea to ponder and wrestle with, not just facts and vocabulary.

In history, we pay careful attention to the biographies of leaders, noting their motivations and character. We compare their actions to what we have learned about leadership in the Bible and look at what happens when they stray too far from that ideal. In literature, we ask what the author holds up as good and compare that to what the Lord calls good. In science, we are amazed at the beauty of creation and the order that holds the entire universe together. In every subject, we seek to explore the beauty of His creation, practice discerning godly and ungodly ways of thinking and begin to apply that to our own character and to continually deepen our walk with Christ.

Do I achieve that all the time? No. Sometimes, I give them a workbook and go straighten the front room. Sometimes I pull one of the many textbooks I have amassed over the years and go over the next lesson because it is all right there and I just need a bit of a break. But when all is going well, to me education is about a conversation.

We talk about life, we learn from life and we are given Life. And that’s what Life Led Homeschooling is to me.

This post is part of the Virtual Homeschool Fair, an opportunity for homeschool blogggers to come together and share about how and why they homeschool. Check out the other participants and recapture some of your own vision for homeschooling!

Never tried to homeschool my children but I like your approach. Your three goals in a lesson are great to have. It reminded me of how I try to teach my children about the bible. I read, but make it into real life situations for them. Great job!

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Welcome!

Join me for some encouragement to slow down, appreciate the little things and maintain some perspective on why you started this homeschool journey to begin with. I share ideas, resources and snippets from our lives to help you homeschool from life and bring life to your homeschool.